Christmas Gifts

So, tonight, our little family celebrated our own Christmas together before everyone else arrives tonight and tomorrow. Of course, before opening gifts, I wanted to talk about JESUS and make Him the focus. So I launched into a teaching time with the question, "What are some things you guys think of when you think of Christmastime?" Only our Biggest Boy answered at first, and he immediately said, "Jesus. " I said, "What else?" Then he went on to say, "Mary. Joseph. Herod. The Wise Men." Then the Redhead chimed in with a smile and a loud voice, "JESUS!"

So, all that to say, obviously, my teaching time was not nearly as needed as I thought. I did go on to affirm them for their answers and then to explain that sometimes it's easy to forget that those things really are what Christmas is about, and not the presents and family and food, etc. But what a gift that was to me, as their mommy, and to Jim, as their daddy, to hear them voice from their hearts that when they think of Christmas, they think of Jesus. Hallelujah! That was about the greatest gift I could have received tonight! I would love to think it would always stay this way, but of course, I know that our great enemy is always working to blind and deceive, and one day, just as it is for us, they will struggle with keeping Christ the focus. How I praise God for their sweet and tender and truth-knowing hearts right now that have not yet been too heavily influenced by the world around us.

Biggest Boy's 6th Birthday

As Jim says, "We had a big time!"  :)  The kiddos had a blast playing with their light sabers made from pool noodles and duct tape. And when Darth entered the scene...well, that was just plain awesome! The kids went nuts, and it was way fun to watch!  :)

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The Rip Rider

For Christmas, my boys were given a Razor Rip Rider 360. They got it early because we did gift with my parents at Thanksgiving, since we were together. My punkin heads love this thing. We have had many outings already to the driveway and the nearby cul-de-sac to spin out on this fun and crazy vehicle!!!! Littlest is on his tricycle at the end here, too. Didn't want to leave him out of the pics!

My Big, Bad "Big Boys"

We recently went to a birthday party where we brought Nerf guns and they shot targets and each other all night! They dressed in camo and were given bandanas to wear. Very fun! Very boy!

 

Pictures at the Park

I had fun altering the color of some of these photos (not the last one). I think the effect turned out nice. What do you think?

These were taken at a beautiful park here last weekend. We were seizing upon the unusually warm weather we've had the last couple of weeks. It was delightful to be out and walking around and exploring and following trails....great boy time!!! By the way, I highly recommend this park in Anchorage to anyone who loves the outdoors!

Our clothesless boys

The other morning, I went to get our Littlest out of his crib, and this is how he looked when I got him:



That's right. No clothes except the diaper. Now, I am grateful for that diaper, because I've heard some yucky stories about babies stripping all the way down and removing diaper also. I hope that day is not coming!!!!

And, while we're on the subject of no clothes, I had to post about our Biggest as well. He is his father's son, I tell you. This boy loves reading more than anything else. And rather than take the time to get pajamas on last night after the bath, he ran into our bed, got warm under the covers, and picked up in his book where he had left off fifteen minutes prior. Last night, he had read two 50-page books between the time we got them at the library at about 4 pm and when he went to bed at 7:30 pm. He's a maniac!!!!!!   :)

We love Halloween!

Now, before you judge me for the title of this blog, let me explain. Many Christians oppose any participation in Halloween. Our family, however, has decided that more goodness lies in participation rather than abstinence. We love to be out in the neighborhood, walking amongst all the other families, interacting with children and adults, and greeting people on their doorstep. Last night I met a neighbor for the first time, and I caught up with another that I hadn't seen in a while. It was delightful! And on top of that I got to see not only my own little cuties dressed up in fun costumes, but also the other munchkins of the neighborhood roaming around in the same way. The little babies dressed like flowers, and the big boys dressed like storm troopers--it's just plain fun! Our biggest was seen by a neighbor to be skipping along energetically and joyfully, and she commented, "It looks like he's already eaten some of his candy!" to which I said, "No, actually he hasn't had any! He's just excited!" The joy of children is so sweet. And the look on our second-born's face was priceless yesterday when he realized we were not just dressing up for ourselves and staying at home, but we were going to go visit people and get candy!!!!! Boy, that was music to his ears!  :)

Growing Boys

Our second-born boy is becoming an artist. It's so, so, fun to watch him gain new abilities. Today he busted out the chalk and drew a pretty yellow sunshine with his name next to it. Of course, his name is written backwards, but that's pretty good for a three-year-old, huh? He's also learning to read. Yesterday I wrote out a bunch of words with the same ending "cat, bat, hat, etc." He read them all effortlessly. Wow. And today we randomly went over numbers 1-100 with flashcards. I would hold up a number like 38 and have him read it and say it aloud. He got almost every card right. I could hardly believe he did that well! I am so encouraged at how they learn and grow when you create a learning environment. It's amazing! Thank you Lord for the development of my sweet boys. I guess I should not fail to mention our eldest, too, as he definitely deserves praise here as well. Biggest is a READING MACHINE! He's not yet 6 and has been reading chapter books for months. Every week I get about 8 short chapter books (50-75 pages) from the library for him, and he's usually finished with them by Saturday or so before we get back to the library on Tuesday. He's always amazing me. Okay, enough bragging about my children. I boast in the Lord's goodness and grace as I boast in them. I am so proud and so thankful for the healthy minds and bodies He's given them, and I am aware that it's only by His grace that they are who they are and do what they do. All glory be to their Maker!!

Be Ho-wee!

Our boys are growing in their abilities. All of a sudden our sweet baby is trying to say just about everything that we do. It's so fun!!! Last Sunday I was going over memory verses for Sunday School with the boys in the car. The Redhead's verse was, "You shall be holy, for I, the LORD your God, am holy." Next thing I know, Littlest is chiming in with, "I ho-wee!!" Isn't that the cutest? And all week he's only been increasing in his abilities. Yesterday he communicated the first sentence that I am aware of. He pointed to my water bottle and said, "Dat mama wawa." Translation: "That's mama's water." I love it!  :)

The Glory of God in Fall

God has graciously appointed that we live in our particular home on our particular street here in Louisville, KY. Little did we know upon purchasing this home that our trees turn absolutely radiant in the fall. What a gift from the Lord to Jillian Ashley, the lover of fall leaves. Most of the pictures in this slide show are of the trees in our yard and on our street. I just peek outside from our front door and stand in awe. Our Creator is magnificent and beautiful!!!! There are about 100 or so (probably more) pictures in this slide show of the leaves, our family, and our sweet friends, the Burks. Hope you catch a glimpse here of God's power and glory and majesty as displayed in His creation! May you worship as you watch!

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All JW...well, almost!

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Our second-born was looking especially adorable to me tonight, so I started snapping away. I accidentally got a pic of our firstborn on here too, but this is all about the Redhead! Cute boy.....

A Sprinkling of Color

Some pretty colors to brighten your day! These are on our front walk today. Aren't they lovely?

Cutie Baby

Isn't he a cutie boy? This is our littlest on the plasma car. How the boys love that toy!  :)

Two Boys in the Yard

I like our tall, tall grasses that fluff out in the fall! Here's a pic of Biggest and Littlest in front of them.  :)

Learning to Feed Himself

Our Pookie Bear is nineteen months old. What that means is it's time for him to use a fork and a spoon! Contrary to what you'd expect from his personality, he actually is not thrilled about this new idea. I think it's only because it takes him a lot longer to get food in his belly this way! But he's doing well. I give him the spoon for oatmeal and for yogurt. This is a yogurt pic. Way to go, sweet littlest boy!

It's Here!!!!

My favorite time of the year is upon us. It's 2:15 pm and 57 degrees out. Marvelous!

It's a light jacket or long-sleeved shirt day. I'm trying not to rush the season, so I wore a short-sleeved tee and pants today, but that's not warm enough, I am happy to say. The sun is hidden behind a bunch of clouds right now, and it feels downright chilly!

Yesterday the cuties and I took a walk and began a ritual we'll continue over the next month or so: gathering and gazing upon fallen leaves. It's only just begun, but we can already find some pretty red and yellow ones.

At our house, on the front doorstep, two pumpkins are perched contentedly in a galvanized tub, welcoming visitors not only to our home, but to this most delightful season! I hope you enjoy this time of the year as much as I do! Thank you, Lord, for fall!!

Proud of my babies!

Did my title trick you? For once I'm talking about something other than my children, though I am definitely proud of those babies too! These pictures show a bit of the joy I gained this summer from growing things. I have NEVER had a green thumb. On the contrary, I'd call my thumb black, actually! But for some reason the Lord smiled upon our home this summer, and our two tomato plants went crazy! We ate tomatoes for months--and were abounding in them! I could hardly keep up with them. We enjoyed them on sandwiches and burgers and in salads and made the yummiest fresh salsa a couple of times. We even set up a "free tomato" stand one day to get rid of some of the surplus! This picture here of them all on my counter was when I had picked 17!!!! I took them to the seminary and gave some away there too! How much fun! The other pic of of our one little cantaloupe. Even that was fun to grow, though it never got to be full-size before a critter discovered it and left some lovely teeth marks in it for us.  Hubby also bought me a watermelon plant, and we got two little babies that grew to about the size of a golf ball, and that was it. They were in a mostly shaded spot, because we didn't have a sunny spot big enough for them in the yard, so I knew they would not grow. Anyway....it sure was a fun summer from our garden standpoint. I definitely want to do tomatoes again in the future. In fact, I'd like to do it every year. They were so delicious and red and juicy. When I went to the grocery store, I could hardly believe that people pay money to buy ones looking like that. (I think I've actually become quite the tomato snob!) Oh, and I almost forgot--we grew banana peppers too, and they did great also. What fun!

A Special Trip to Indy

Biggest and I just visited the Indianapolis Children's Museum a few weeks ago, and what a treat that was! We had a fantastic time. We went because we had been studying about ancient Egypt and King Tut, and he was loving learning about it. It just so happened that at the same time, Indy had a touring display of a King Tut exhibit. So we drove up, just Biggest and I, and we had the time of our lives. We were there for about three and a half hours, and didn't even see the third and the fourth floors! We were too busy exploring the awesome, interactive dinosaur area and rollicking about in the "Take Me There Egypt" part--and even walking around the Star Wars section. It was fantabulous fun. I could hardly believe I actually thought about not going because of the hassle of the travel. How worth it it was! Here are some pics of our truly enjoyable time!!! I highly recommend this place to anyone with young kiddos.

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Good, Clean Fun

There is a place here in Louisville that we totally love. It's called All About Kids. We went once last year right after moving here, and then we went again yesterday. It is a complete blast to play there! What it is is a gymnasium, and they open it up for "open gym" time where those who are not taking classes can come. There was a "Homeschool Day" yesterday where we got a discounted rate and enjoyed it with the whole family. Since sweet hubby was going to be missing us this weekend, he frontloaded us with some daddy time, and we all had a ball! You can see in the pictures all the foam pits they have. Foam pits everywhere! At the foot of trampolines, at the end of a rope swing, underneath trapezes, at the end of a bouncy runway, and even at the end of a tall slide. What fun!!! Good, boy fun, with many calories burned and much energy expended!!!! Love it!

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Cali Time

Here are gobs of pics from our recent California trip. We had sweet time with family at a beautiful outdoor wedding in San Juan Capistrano, and then also enjoyed Legoland in Carlsbad and the gorgeous, white, smooth sands of Coronado Island, off of San Diego. It was so great! We ate at In-N-Out Burger for the first time. Yum! And our cuties munched down s'mores for the first time as well, cooked over an open fire on the beach as the sun was beginning to set. Deelish!

(To explain the Hummer pic, that is what we got to drive around town. Surprise! An accidental upgrade by Atlas. We were not too saddened by it!)

Many memories were made. Our kiddos had a blast with their cousins. It was a blessed time. Take a peek.

(Just a note: if you want to view any of these pictures just as one, then hit "view all images" and you can scan through at your own pace).

Oh, and sorry, Dave. You got the shaft. Somehow you didn't make one picture!!!!! Please forgive....

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Strawberry Fields

The fam had a super fabulous time this morning in Starlight, Indiana. May and June are strawberry picking time, and they are beyond plentiful out there on the farm. I hope that I captured in the pictures the reality of the way our children's personalities were reflected in their approach to strawberry picking. This is absolutely hilarious to me.....but so true. Before we got off the trailer and into the fields, the driver said, "Now there's only rule for you to follow. You must eat while you pick!!!" So, my sweeties took full advantage of that. The redhead literally did not have a single strawberry in his box. He ate every one he picked! Even when at one point he had two strawberries in his box, he promptly remedied that by eating them up and emptying it yet again.  :)  Our littlest ate the strawberries no holds barred---green tops, straw from the ground and all! (just look for the pic!) And lastly, our biggest boy, true to his nature, ate a grand total of two strawberries and saved the rest for us to eat at home and share with Gramzee and Paw Paw this weekend. A complete conservative.

Enjoy the happy pictures. And get to Huber's if you can in the next few weeks. You're missing out of you don't!  :)

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Homeschool Field Day!

Fun times were had this morning at Field Day for my big boys.  We almost got rained out, but God was gracious and kept the drops away until the late afternoon. So we tromped around in a field that was super soggy from the previous days of rain, and my sweeties competed in various events. There was a long jump, a discus throw, a foot race, and more. I had a ball watching them and photographing them. It's so fun to see them participate in new things and be with other children their age.

Look closely....I think my favorite picture of all is the one where I caught our redhead with his hand down his shorts in the back. He cracks me up!  :)  Enjoy!

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The Doodlebug is One!

Our sweet littlest turned one on March 22nd. We had the joy of having family in town to celebrate with us. Enjoy the pics!

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Spring cometh!

Behold, our first crocuses!  :)

the passing of days

It's very strange, really. Something has happened, I think. A turning point of some sort has come. Enough time has passed that we are  no longer the "young" ones. Hubby and I were at church this morning, and we attended the Sunday School class of seminary students, rather than the group of more elderly people, and afterwards the people were telling us how glad they were to have our wisdom there amongst their youth. Wow. Double wow! Since when are we not considered young too?

Sweet hubby turns 35 this year, and I'll be 34 this summer. Of course that's not old, but I have a feeling we'll ALWAYS feel young--and when we are 65 rather than 35, we still might be astonished! I recall a few years back a friend of mine commenting on having wrinkles, and I said, "No, you do not!" She insisted, and she was a few years older than me. Now that I am in her spot, I am finding myself to be experiencing the same thing. Again, wow. Aging happens, and it doesn't start all that late in life!

So, I'm just reflecting today on the passing of days and years. I am thinking of how big my two big boys are and how even our little baby is not really little anymore. He'll be walking any day. And there's a happiness and a sadness that comes with all of this. Mainly, it's just strange to realize.

Aging seems to be something that just "happens" to you. It's a passive thing. It happens to you whether you like it or  not. And whether you do anything to "cause" it or not. May the rest of my life not be that way. May I, instead of being passive myself, seize the opportunites before me to live and to love, that I might never look back on the passing of all my days and think of all that got away, of all that was lost, of all that could have been. Father, grant me that grace, I pray. Amen.

sweet words from a book

I am reading to our oldest son right now a book called Mountain Born. It's really good.

The first day I came upon some words that were really meaningful, especially to me as I read aloud to my precoius firstborn boy.

In the passage, the author describes a woman recalling the first day that she held her baby boy and thinking over his life. It says,

"Such a short way she could go with him on that path that was his life; only a few years she would have his hand in hers; then for a few more years he would walk beside her; then he would be a man going his way alone, but if it were a way of kindness, the memory of that first day would always fill her with joy."

Sweet, isn't it?

God at Work

I can hardly admit it, because it's almost too good to be true. Our sweet biggest boy says things that surely seem that they could only come from a heart that is being renewed. Only God Himself knows, of course, what He is doing, but by all appearances our eldest is being drawn by the Holy Spirit to faith in Jesus Christ.

He has more than once recently said to me, "I want to be a Christian." It happened first after reading a Bible story. He crawled up and whispered it in my ear. And being the skeptical and careful one that I am about these things, I did not say much other than to encourage him to trust in Christ and that if indeed he was doing that, then time would tell, and he could be confident of going to heaven if he were to die. We are not ready to "pray a prayer" with him or have him baptized at this point, but we sure are encouraged.

So tonight we were out after a very long and very eventful and very fun day. I said to the boys, "Boy, today was about the best day ever in the world, huh?" (We had done tons of stuff out of the ordinary and lots of fun things for them). Our five-year-old immediately said, "Yeah, but another day is coming soon too...when we die." (What he meant is that he really believes that the BEST is yet to come. And he's right)!

So then we got into the van, and he said with vigor and vehemence, "I just can't wait for God to crush the devil!" So, smiling, I asked why and he said he just hates the devil. Then a few minutes later, he said, again, completely of his own volition, "Mama, I just really only want to say what is good. I want to honor God in what I say." I told him that was wonderful and asked what made him say that. He said, "I just want to be one of God's servants." Wow. So seriously, I cannot make this stuff up. And you can trust that I certainly do not coerce this kind of thing. He just says these sorts of things out of the blue sometimes. This is not normal! What kid even thinks this way? I believe it's probably a heart of one who is elect. A heart being regenerated. A heart who is falling in love with Jesus. Oh, may it be so. Time and trials will tell.

Please, Lord, let this indeed be the firstfruits of a life that is being transformed to know and love and serve and follow hard after you. Continue to draw him by your Spirit, Father, I pray, and give him perseverance to endure all that you bring his way in this life. May he cling to you through it all,  may he always walk hand in hand with you, and may he indeed prove to be one of your servants. Amen.

the littlest

These cheeks just get me! And the just-after-nap hair, and the unsnapped onesie! How I adore my baby boy.  :)

Pook and a Pickle :)

Love this pic!

Ideas For Parents Struggling with Kiddos Not Getting Schoolwork Done

This came into my inbox today via my homeschool loop. I thought it was great. Not for the faint-hearted, though! Sometimes love is tough!

CONSEQUENCES FOR NOT DOING WORK

QUESTION: I need consequences for a child who just will not do his
work.
Please help me! I just don't know what to anymore.

RESPONSE: One of the best things that works here is to let the child
think they've gotten away with something. Ignore it. Put the books
away and let it go. Don't say a word.
Then, the next time the child asks for something or expects to go
somewhere, calmly and offhandedly say, "When the homework is done,
we'll talk about it," or "No, you can't, because you didn't do your
homework." Nice and casual, just as casually as you put the books
away before.
It took a few losses here, but now my kids usually do their work
because they never know what they'll lose or when I'll drop the bomb.
They know it's coming--they just don't know when or what. It's the
uncertainty that makes my kids nervous--and relatively obedient, most
days.

RESPONSE: When my husband gets home from work, he will ask our
children, "How have you made your mom's life easier today? Workers
eat, slackers don't." Then they will either list the jobs they've
done that day or run away and doing something so they can come back
and report ... and get dinner.

RESPONSE: Those who don't do their schoolwork get a peanut butter
sandwich (or liverwurst with my youngest), a glass of water and go to
bed right after supper. They eat at the table and watch everyone else
eat a much better dinner.
If it continues on for several days, I do a manual labor school. ("It
is my job to prepare you for adult hood.If you are choosing not to be
educated I have to prepare you for the careers for those who don't
have a high school diploma.")
It might be scrubbing walls, cleaning out kitchen cupboards, or
simply moving rocks from one part of the yard to another. On manual
labor school days you get breakfast and do not eat again until your
work is finished. If it is not finished by bedtime you get the peanut
butter sandwich and go to bed.
I have also set my kids in a room stripped of all their personal
belonging except their school and their Bible so they don't have
distractions. If school isn't done then there are no privileges until
it is.
The trick is to not get upset yourself. I tell my son that if he
chooses not to do his work, he is choosing to eat peanut butter or
manual labor school.

Excellent Questions to Use as a Parent with Your Children

I recently saw these lists of questions on an email sent to me by our old church. The first set is a bunch of questions that Rick

Gamache (senior pastor of Sovereign Grace Fellowship) regularly asks his children. I think we may start using these at least here and there at some point to stimulate really deep, quality, revealing conversation from our children with us. Here they are:

.How are your devotions?

.What is God teaching you?

.In your own words, what is the gospel?

. Is there a specific sin you're aware of that you need my help defeating?

. Are you more aware of my encouragement or my criticism?

. What's daddy most passionate about?

. Do I act the same at church as I do when I'm at home?

. Are you aware of my love for you?

. Is there any way I've sinned against you that I've not repented of?

. Do you have any observations for me? . How am I doing as a dad?

. How have Sunday's sermons impacted you?

. Does my relationship with mom make you excited to be married?

This second set here comes from Steve Boyer, an elder at Capitol Hill Baptist Church, in Washington, DC. They also are very good.

. Do you like to pray to God by yourself?

. Do you think mommy and daddy treat you fairly?

. Do you think mommy and daddy love your sister more or less than you?

. Are you ever afraid of daddy?

. What do you like best about each person in our family?  Least?

. Are there things that we do or say during church services that you don't
understand?

. Are there classmates who you have trouble getting along with?

. Do you ever wish you had things that your friends have?

I sure am grateful for all the people out there who are parenting with excellence, from whom I can learn a tremendous amount.

Home for First Grade

I am practically giddy right now at 10 pm and motivated to come down to the computer in the basement one last time before ending the day. It's because my sweet husband made the decision for our family that our eldest would not be attending the 2-day-a-week cottage school next year that we were looking into. The school is an excellent one and one I would feel confident putting any of our children in in the future. But I am rejoicing right now that our sweet biggest boy will be at home full-time with us again next year, as far as we can tell right now.

What I've come to recognize in myself this year is that my own personal main reason for homeschooling is because I absolutely love being with my children. Now, OF COURSE, I am not always happy with them or patient with them, or slow to get irritated as I should be, but I adore them. And I want to get as much time with them as I can. If that means that when they become school-age that I need to be their teacher, then gosh-darnit, I am going to try as hard as possible to be the best teacher I can be for them. And I will pray that they will get a completely excellent education with my husband and myself as the teachers and directors of the school that takes place in our home. I will avail myself of all necessary resources and attend any meetings needed and become part of any groups that will be helpful to ensure that I am all I can be for them, by the grace of God.

Anyway, I just had to post because my heart is skipping right now that our sweet firstborn son will not leave us  for two full days out of the week starting in August. As far as I know at this moment, he will be all mine again at least for a little while longer! Praise God!

The Pook at Ten Months Old

Wow. This little boy is doing everything at once. In the last two weeks, he has gained his first two teeth. He has learned to "real" crawl instead of army crawl. He has started copying me when I say certain words like "Dada" and "ball" and "bye-bye." He started clapping and waving. He has begun to eat table food --and LOVES it! He has pulled himself up to standing a time or two.

I think that's it. But that's enough, isn't it? Man, that kid is growing up on us!!!!!!   :)  And he is still as sweet and precious and happy as ever....

I Don't Recall Seeing Anything Like This

Surely at some time in my life I've seen this. Surely! But I don't remember it. I recall nothing like it, in fact. Even with my visits to Colorado sometimes for skiing, I have no memory of the way the trees and the sky and the remaining snow look once the sun comes out and the melting begins.

Truly....it's possibly the most beautiful sight I've ever beheld in God's outdoor creation. I attempted to capture the magnificence of it on my camera, but, as was expected, it falls incredibly short. The trees decorated from head to toe with ice today appear as clear and pure and bright as newly-shined glass--glass off which the light from the sun bounces, illuminating everything it touches and doesn't touch.  These photographs I've taken are pretty, but they do not depict the most glorious part: the way the sun makes everything sparkle and glisten and shine like nothing else I've seen.

It's radiantly bright out from the combination of the sun's rays and the whiteness of the snow covering everything. We can open up the windows and do without electrical light today altogether in some rooms! I talked to the boys about how it will be this way in the new heavens and the new earth when Jesus is shown forth in all His splendor, and, therefore,  how we will have  no need then of the sun or moon to bring us light.

The magnitude of this beauty today is enormous. How much more gigantic will be the beauty and majesty of the light emanating from the spotless, holy, perfect Husband of our souls: Christ Jesus our Lord! I'm so grateful today for this God's picture which serves as a reminder and foretaste of that splendid, clear, pure, radiant eternity which awaits those whose trust in Him alone!

Our Big Snow

We've gotten 6-7 inches in the last couple of days. "Tis a bit frightful here, but that fire certainly is delightful! So are the fun times outside in the yard! And blessing of having people in our home who are without power brings us deep joy...

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Silly Story with Rhyming Words

Today Biggest and I (with Middle listening in) did a brief study of life in England in the Middle Ages. We tlaked about knights and castles and chivalry. This was all inspired by watching Prince Caspian as a family this last weekend, and now knights are Biggest's new thing. (He changes new things quite often!)  :)

Anyway, one of the things we did today was think of words that rhyme with the word moat. Then I  had Biggest make up a story using as many of those words as he could. Here's what he came up with....

"A goat got on a boat and went to a castle through the moat. He wrote a note to his grandma about the castle. And then she sent a coat to him. Then the grandma floated across the moat. "

He loved this, and I loved watching his delight and pride in his fun and silly creation of a story!

Helping to Save the Unborn--and their Mommies

This is so helpful to know about. If you are looking for a way to serve women and babies, you should consider being a part of this. Read the link below to find out more information on this great ministry.

http://theologica.blogspot.com/2009/01/one-simple-practical-way-you-can-make.html

Our Funny, Funny Redhead

I have copied here Jim's words that describe some hilarious situations of the last week involving our cute second-born son.

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The other day we were having our "play toys with me" time, which happens every morning after breakfast. So Jed was still in his pajamas, and we went down to the basement to play. We usually make Jake go do something else so that Jed can have some one-on-one attention. (Jake tends to take over and Jed winds up sitting and watching). Well, before too long Jake joined us. He too was still in his pajamas. Both of them were wearing footed, fleece, zip up pajamas. Jake's pajamas were the black ones with brown gingerbread men on them.

So we're in the play room, and Jed gets out Jill's old cowboy boots and starts to put them on over his footed fleece pajamas, announcing, "I'm going to put these pirate boots on. I'm a pirate!"

Jake then says, "I'm a pirate, too!" as he raised up the plastic pirate sword from the toy bin.

Jed responds, "No, you're not a pirate. You just got gingerbreads on your jajamas."

[[Jed didn't mean it as a slam, though it sure sounded like one. Jed was just explaining that Jake wasn't wearing a pirate costume. But that phrase, "You're not a pirate. You just got gingerbreads on your jajamas" has had me laughing since he said it. . .]]

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This morning we're having play time again, and this time we had the bin that has all the match box cars in it. Jed likes to be in complete control of the situation. So as he is taking out cars and lining them up side by side, I began to pick up a car from the bin. He immediately grabbed it from my hand and said, "No!" I responded: "I don't get to play with the cars Jed? I'm supposed to just sit here and watch you play with the cars?"

Jed replies, "No, you can't play with cars right now. You can play with cars when you're older."

I said, "Jed, do you know what 'older' means?"

Jed: "Nope."

Too Many More of These, and I'll Be Ready

My sweet husband and I have talked about adoption since before we were even married, I believe. I've always thought it a precious, precious ministry that pictures and points to the love of  God for us and His salvation of us. Only He knows whether adoption is in His plan for our family, but I don't know how many more of these kinds of articles I can read before just saying aloud to my dear husband, "We've GOT to do it. Now is the time."

Here is the latest thing I read that spurs me to keep adoption in my mind as the days go by: Finding Jesus in a Russian Orphanage...

May God use this article to spur you, too, to ask the question of yourself, "How am I obeying God's clear command to care for orphans and widows?"

Cowboy and Indian

Another pic  just for smiles....Our redhead does not lack for enthusiasm, does he?



How they LOVE to dress up.

Inspired by Terra

Seeing pictures of my friend Terra's family today blessed me so greatly today that I was motivated to post more pics of my boys. I hope they make your heart happy, as seeing hers did for me.  :)



These pictures are from an art class that we started this week here at our local art museum. It's a fabulous class and perfect for our biggest who LOVES anything art-related. We look forward to all our future classes as the weeks go by!

The Good Life

I am thinking tonight. We just watched the movie Tuck Everlasting as a family this evening. If I had known it was not really a child's movie, then I would not have picked it out at the library, but I am very glad that I did. The movie is the reason I'm thinking. It comes at a good time in my life. A time when I look in the mirror and see some of the first effects of age and time. I now experience my first feelings of sadness that things are changing and that I am growing older. This movie explore the fallacies of the would-be goodness of eternal life on this earth. It's so easy to think something like, "If only we could live forever" or "if only my sweet children didn't have to grow up" or "I wish it could just always stay this good--like it is right now."

On a daily basis, I nurse my precious baby and dress him in his warm pajamas and give him his favorite blankie to snuggle and tuck him in bed. I have the amazing privilege of still  being allowed to hold my oldest boy. He will crawl into my lap and let me put my head on his, or he'll place his head in my lap or even still engage in a game of pat-a-cake. I put my arm around my adorable redheaded boy and then I scratch his back and tickle him until he's laughing and wiggling and kicking. I listen over and over and over and over to my husband tell me how beautiful I am and how grateful he is for me and how I am the best wife and mother in the world. It's so easy to think, "Does it get better than this?" Honestly, life this side of heaven probably does not.

The most astounding thing is that in reality--the reality of the supernatural world that we cannot see but that we know by faith--it does get better. Life after this life is more blissful and rewarding and fulfilling than anything we could ever experience on this earth or even dream of in our finite minds. We will one day stand before our Maker and then bow before Him and spend all of the rest of eternity singing His worth and beauty and majesty and sovereignty and strength and wisdom and power and on and on and on. We cannot conceive of it. I don't think it's humanly possible. But it is true. And that will be the good life....life as good as it gets.

"I have come that they might have life, and have it more abundantly...."  --Jesus.